week commencing 08/03/20:

Against an unremittingly bleak backdrop of menacing pandemic, Italian lock down and epic rainfall, new chancellor Rishi Sunak was a breath of fresh air in what has to be the bounciest Budget speech of recent times. So, in the spirit of Sunak – let’s get this week done!

Aon to acquire Willis

An Aon Willis merger on pro forma numbers would create a business with annual revenues over $20bn – outstripping nearest rival Marsh by over 20%.  [Insider] Analysts are already querying targeted savings.  [Insurance Day]

BMS ramps up M&A offering

BMS has announced its expansion into M&A with a number of new divisional director hires.  [The Insurer]

Pandemic prep

Hiscox chair cites PPL as critical to business continuity   The Insider . The Corporation has announced the development of ‘emergency trading protocols’ to keep the market open should access to the Lloyd’s building become restricted  [Reactions]. Meanwhile, a portion of the World Bank cat bond edges closer to paying out   [The Insurer] and WTW reports that actuarial modelling of Covid 19 is ‘tricky’ [Asia Insurance Review]

New York channels Churchill

In the spirit of Churchill’s famous dictum KBO, New York State governor Andrew Cuomo recently announced that insurers in the state will offer ‘cancel-for-any-reason’ (CFAR) travel policies.  [Asia Insurance Review]

Partner Re under pressure

Following EXOR’s announcement that it’s selling the company to Covéa  [Luther], AM Best has put its Partner Re rating on watch.  [Reactions]

Howden exits trade credit

Broking firm Howden is to exit trade credit with the sale of its UK team to Xenia Broking Group.   [Reactions]

AIG embraces the hub

As part of its ongoing drive to remediate underwriting performance, AIG is restructuring its global specialty business within a “hub model” which has London at its core from 1 May.  [Insurance Insider]

Climate change denial puts Australia at increased risk

In a new report, the Climate Council lobby group said Australian governments ignored warnings from scientists for at least a decade about an impending bushfire disaster and warned of worse to come if action is not taken.  [Bloomberg]

Just in time communication

BDO won top Budget honours this week with a neat infographic and a pithy opinion which hit Luther Towers’ inbox just an hour after the Chancellor sat down. Be more BDO.   [BDO]

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